1. Cameron's brain fades
Back-to-back brain fades from Jeremy Cameron swung the momentum of the second term in the Roos' favour and left Leon Cameron in shock. Having kicked six of the quarter's seven goals, the Giants were set to go 15 points clear when Rory Lobb outmarked Jamie Macmillan deep in attack. Keen to let him know about it, Jeremy Cameron bumped Macmillan to the turf, with the set shot overturned before he repeated the treatment as Macmillan kicked long to the wing. As a result, Mason Wood kicked truly at the other end – the ultimate 12-point play.
2. Big Ben's big burst
Hometown hero Ben Brown stole the show in the third term, kicking five of the Roos' seven goals to set up the win. Opposed to the returning Tim Mohr, Brown was barely sighted in the first half before clunking everything at his favoured southern end of the ground. Two of his majors came when he was hard against opposite boundary lines, his long run up taking him closer to his junior roots of Devonport at the other end of the Apple Isle. It took his season tally to 31, an eight-goal buffer in the race for the Coleman Medal over Luke Breust who plays on Sunday.
3. Ben Jacobs' influence
Fresh off keeping Dustin Martin to 16 disposals last week, North Melbourne stopper Ben Jacobs was used in a variety of roles by coach Brad Scott. Walking to Giants co-captain Callan Ward at the opening bounce, he spent time on Ward (19 disposals) and partly Dylan Shiel (24 disposals) throughout the afternoon. He also floated forward at times and finished with 14 disposals and nine tackles of his own, with North Melbourne pushing a number of different players through centre bounces.
HOMETOWN HERO SHINES Full match coverage and stats
4. Giants' goalkicking woes strike again
Leon Cameron's recent frustration with goalkicking will be reaching boiling point after another tough day in the forward half. Having kicked 54.88 in their previous six matches to rival St Kilda's woes, the Giants finished with three less scoring shots despite the 36-point loss. Three posters in the first half didn't help, but outside a run of four consecutive goals in the second term, they finished with 5.15. Kicking with the breeze in the final term, early misses to Daniel Lloyd, Lachie Whitfield and Jeremy Cameron killed off any chance of victory.
WATCH Big Ben bags five in one royal term
5. Injury curse continues for GWS
Already missing five of the top eight in last year's best and fairest, Sam Reid's hamstring injury in the final term was another blow for the Giants. Reid was seen icing his right hamstring post-match, adding to Brett Deledio and Matt de Boer's recent setbacks of a similar nature. Leon Cameron said post-game they were doing all they could to stem the long list of injuries. "It is disappointing," Cameron said. "Any footy club that is worth its weight will always look deeper. We are looking at things and whether we're doing things to the best of our ability and whether we've got any blindspots."
